Now’s the time to check and make sure…..

“Now’s a good time to check and make sure you have…”

Those are the words used by many dive-masters aboard countless dive boats prior to leaving the docks for a day of SCUBA diving. The gist is to get divers to check their dive bags and equipment before the dock lines are cast to insure they’re prepared for a day of diving once they’re out at sea.

“…a mask, a snorkel, two fins—otherwise you’ll swim in circles...”

All joking aside, the call-out of an item list is done to prompt divers into running their checklists and to physically inspect their gear—and that of their dive buddy, too.

Following checklists and being responsible for another is not limited to hobbyists like SCUBA divers.

During hurricane season we need to establish a plan, and have some semblance of an idea as to what we’ll do if the wind blows and the waters rise. We owe it to ourselves, our families and for those who are so inspired--to our neighbors—after all, one tenant of the good book is to “be thy brother’s keeper”.

When I co-authored, “What to Do til The Cavalry Comes” with Thomas Van Hare in 2006, our intent was to reduce the chance of revisiting the heartbreaking scenes of New Orleans post hurricane Katrina.

The visions of Americans lined up in the streets, as well as those seen floating in the toxic mix of the storm’s flood waters still haunt us to this day.

Three years after we published “What to Do…” another preparedness guide rose from the wreckage of southern Louisiana. Its title is “Survival: How a Culture of Preparedness Can Save You and Your Family from Disasters”, authored by Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré (U.S. Army, ret).

The Lt. General’s guide is written in what I consider to be “pure Honoré” style. For the uninitiated, his wording may be harsh truth; but as he relates to preparedness the Lt. General’s beliefs are congruent to ours, and follow this basic understanding:

“The U.S. had a Culture of Preparedness during the 1960s, when every home, government agency and institution did something to prepare in the event of a nuclear attack from the former Soviet bloc. Once that threat was all but gone, we abandoned our readiness.”-- Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré (U.S. Army, ret)

What he means

In the 1960s when the threat was a nuclear attack; schools were civil defense shelters, students were drilled on “duck and cover” and the skills of survival were engrained in us.

Back then, home builders offered underground bomb bunkers as an option in my South Florida neighborhood—an area that had its own Nike missile base established to defend against the Soviet missiles pointed towards the U.S. during the Kennedy era.

Families stocked canned goods, Sterno, candles, bleach and other supplies at the ready in their homes. We relied on each other in a time when there was more of a sense of community--and of “being American”—after all, we were being led by the generation that was born of the “greatest generation”.

FEMA was not considered part of a personal preparedness plan and in fact did not exist as it does in its current role today.

The thought process was if you were ready for “the Big One”, you were ready for just about anything and being basically prepared meant you had half the battle won.

The same holds true today

“One of the harshest lessons learned from recent disasters, especially Katrina, is that you are your own first responder.”-- Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré (U.S. Army, ret)

I’m not one to wait in line on a good day. I’ve been known to leave restaurants when there’s a wait for a table, and I plan my grocery shopping for mid-week to avoid the weekend rush.

The joke I make amongst my friends in my “preparedness circle” is that I have everything I need, except for fresh limes and mint—two ingredients needed for mojitos and rum-n-cokes.

I’m not advocating that a hurricane is a time to party, but once my home is secured and the choice of “stay or evacuate” has been made; I sit back and relax—while the lines at the grocery store and Home Depot grow!

To me, the only lines that are worse than those before a disaster are the FEMA lines for the “free” food, water and ice afterwards.

The realities of today make it necessary for those who are capable--even on the smallest scale—to do what they can to prepare their family for a disaster—be it natural or man-made, hurricane or terrorism.

Remember, you’re not only preparing for the event, you’re preparing for the days and weeks afterwards.

Hurricane season began June 1st—the dock lines have been cast-- “Now’s a good time to check and make sure you have...” before you find yourself “…swimming in circles.”

Since publishing “What to Do…”in 2006; Matt has spoken on disaster preparedness at the local, state and federal levels as well as been an invited speaker before members of Congress.

“What to Do” is endorsed by the current Governor of Mississippi Phil Bryant.

To contact Matt visit his website, www.mattlawrencebooks.com. His books are available in print, via electronic download and on Amazon Kindle.

BP’s Botched Plan

The proof is in the “pudding”--or oil--as the case is this time.

Unless someone can prove otherwise--BP never considered developing a deep water spill response plan for the Gulf of Mexico; but instead spent their money buying off politicians and finding new ways to locate and suck the Black Gold out of the Gulf.

That’s because BP’s six-hundred page response plan reads like a collegiate attempt at a term paper that was never going to be read--by anyone.

The document, an apparent copy of a plan meant for colder waters mentions sea lions, walruses, and seals as critters of concern in the Gulf of Mexico—uh, hello Dr. Geologist CEO…Ms. Director of MMS…is anyone familiar with “who lived” in the Gulf?

Whoever wrote (or copied) BP’s contingency plan also chose to list MSRC as the company’s 24/7 “primary equipment provider” for the Gulf of Mexico.

I checked out the company’s Japanese website and didn’t find the oil spill response section, maybe you can. Here’s the URL. http://www.msrc.com/Equipment.htm .

Also, missing from the voluminous document—any mention of meteorlogical or oceanographic data--or information about tracking underwater plumes.

Plumes which, according to BP CEO Tony Hayward, a University of Edinburgh educated PH.D (Geology), with Honorary Doctorates from the University of Edinburgh, Aston University and the University of Birmingham—says don’t exist.

Amazingly, BP did manage to have a section for their corporate media spokespeople. They’re instructed to never make "promises that property, ecology, or anything else will be restored to normal.”

Exactly the opposite of what the million dollar ad campaign featuring an apologetic Mr. Hayward is saying the company will do, which is to make things as they once were.

Just like Tony Hayward’s feeble attempts at minimizing the spill and his continued empty promises, the remainder of the response plan consists blank forms and is not worth the paper it is written on.

But then again most corporate contingency plans are basically "fantasy documents” which is why BP is now on plan “W” of theirs—they’re “Winging it.”

BP claims to have hired 20,000 paid responders to facilitate the clean up, yet work crews are small. Work rules are rumored to be--work fifteen minutes, rest fifteen minutes--to avoid the overheating themselves in their protective gear.

I can only imagine the $12 per hour workers spend a good part of their day texting friends and family while complaining of the heat with the extra time they have.

In the meantime, the majority of the Louisiana shrimping fleet sits idle, even though their crews are ready to work. Those fishermen who left over a month ago are considered the fortunate ones—they’re working.

Unfortunately, they have no ability to return to port because their hulls can't be decontaminated—and they’ve yet to receive a paycheck from BP.

Something smells fishy in the Gulf….

There have been a couple of reports circulating on the world wide web that add an air of suspicion to this disaster.

One, which originally appeared in the Huffington Post, says Goldman Sachs shorted Transocean stock just days before the explosion. In it there’s a quote from Goldman employee Fabian Tourre’s email to his girlfriend.

"One oil rig goes down and we're going to be rolling in dough," Mr. Tourre wrote. "Suck it, fishies and birdies!"

http://pesn.com/2010/05/05/9501645_No_joke--Goldman_Sachs_shorted_TransOcean/

The other report, in the U.K. telegraph reported that BP CEO Tony Hayward sold $2.8million (USD) in BP stock one month before the explosion.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7804922/BP-chief-Tony-Hayward-sold-shares-weeks-before-oil-spill.html

While BP chose to make no “genuine” disaster/contingency plan, FEMA has.

"Emergency preparations in dealing with the expanding oil menace are now being made for cities and towns from Corpus Christi , Texas , to Houston , New Orleans , Gulfport , Mobile , Pensacola , Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater, Sarasota-Bradenton, Naples , and Key West.”

“Some 36 FEMA-funded contracts between cities, towns, and counties and emergency workers are due to be invoked within days, if not hours, according to WMR's FEMA sources."

"There are plans to evacuate people with respiratory problems, especially those among the retired senior population along the west coast of Florida, before officials begin burning surface oil as it begins to near the coastline.”

The entire FEMA release can be found at the link below and like my prior blogs, you’ll do best to cut and paste the URLs into your browser or emails to your friends.

http://www.resourceinvestor.com/News/2010/5/Pages/The-Coverup--BPs-Crude-Politics-and-the-Looming-Environmental-MegaDisaster.aspx

There’s a major threat looming for inland towns and cities.

Just because you live inland, don’t think for a minute BP’s disaster won’t reach you.

The FEMA plan goes on to say, “With hurricane season in effect, there is a potential for ocean oil to be picked up by hurricane-driven rains and dropped into fresh water lakes and rivers, far from the ocean, thus adding to the pollution of water supplies and eco-systems."

BP claims it can have a relief well drilled by mid-August thus stopping the flow once the well is capped, but it’s now projected we’ll be dealing with oil in the Gulf through the fall—and the clean-up will take decades.

With Florida boasting more exposed shoreline and inland waterways than anywhere else in the southeast, BP’s oil will have a greater chance to work its way far into the state’s unique environments thus polluting the Gulf, the bays, rivers, lakes and possibly even the Everglades.

We're about to pay for BP’s lack of planning and years of profits because of this spill and that may include another round of declining property values.

Property values in Grand Isle, Louisiana have dropped 30% thanks to the oil washing up on the beaches; it can’t bode much better for us in Florida either.

“Now’s a good time to check and make sure you have…”

Those are the words used by many dive-masters aboard countless dive boats prior to leaving the docks for a day of SCUBA diving. The gist is to get divers to check their dive bags and equipment before the dock lines are cast to insure they’re prepared for a day of diving once they’re out at sea.

“…a mask, a snorkel, two fins—otherwise you’ll swim in circles...”

All joking aside, the call-out of an item list is done to prompt divers into running their checklists and to physically inspect their gear—and that of their dive buddy, too.

Following checklists and being responsible for another is not limited to hobbyists like SCUBA divers.

During hurricane season we need to establish a plan, and have some semblance of an idea as to what we’ll do if the wind blows and the waters rise.

We owe it to ourselves, our families and for those who are so inspired--to our neighbors—after all, one tenant of the good book is to “be thy brother’s keeper”.

When I co-authored, “What to Do til The Cavalry Comes” with Thomas Van Hare in 2006, our intent was to reduce the chance of revisiting the heartbreaking scenes of New Orleans post hurricane Katrina.

The visions of Americans lined up in the streets, as well as those seen floating in the toxic mix of the storm’s flood waters still haunt us to this day.

Three years after we published “What to Do…”, another preparedness guide rose from the wreckage of southern Louisiana. Its title is “Survival: How a Culture of Preparedness Can Save You and Your Family from Disasters”, authored by Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré (U.S. Army, ret).

The Lt. General’s guide is written in what I consider to be “pure Honoré” style. For the uninitiated his wording may be harsh truth; but as he relates to preparedness, the Lt. General’s beliefs are congruent to ours and follow this basic understanding:

“The U.S. had a Culture of Preparedness during the 1960s, when every home, government agency and institution did something to prepare in the event of a nuclear attack from the former Soviet bloc. Once that threat was all but gone, we abandoned our readiness.”-- Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré (U.S. Army, ret)

What he means

In the 1960s when the threat was a nuclear attack; schools were civil defense shelters, students were drilled on “duck and cover” and the skills of survival were engrained in us.

Back then, home builders offered underground bomb bunkers as an option in my South Florida neighborhood—an area that had its own Nike missile base established to defend against the Soviet missiles pointed towards the U.S. during the Kennedy era.

Families stocked canned goods, Sterno, candles, bleach and other supplies at the ready in their homes. We relied on each other in a time when there was more of a sense of community--and of “being American”—after all, we were being led by the generation that was born of the “greatest generation”.

FEMA was not considered part of a personal preparedness plan and in fact did not exist as it does in its current role today.

The thought process was if you were ready for “the Big One”, you were ready for just about anything and being basically prepared meant you had half the battle won.

The same holds true today

“One of the harshest lessons learned from recent disasters, especially Katrina, is that you are your own first responder.”-- Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré (U.S. Army, ret)

I’m not one to wait in line on a good day. I’ve been known to leave restaurants when there’s a wait for a table, and I plan my grocery shopping for mid-week to avoid the weekend rush.

The joke I make amongst my friends in my “preparedness circle” is that I have everything I need, except for fresh limes and mint—two ingredients needed for mojitos and rum-n-cokes.

I’m not advocating that a hurricane is a time to party, but once my home is secured and the choice of “stay or evacuate” has been made; I sit back and relax—while the lines at the grocery store and Home Depot grow!

To me, the only lines that are worse than those before a disaster are the FEMA lines for the “free” food, water and ice afterwards.

The realities of today make it necessary for those who are capable--even on the smallest scale—to do what they can to prepare their family for a disaster—be it natural or man-made, hurricane or terrorism.

Remember, you’re not only preparing for the event, you’re preparing for the days and weeks afterwards.

Hurricane season began June 1st—the dock lines have been cast--“Now’s a good time to check and make sure you have...” before you find yourself “…swimming in circles.”